Solo Campaign - The Battle of Balsa

The Battle of Balsa, 30^th May 1812

General view of the battlefield, from the North-West - the French are on

the left of the picture, with the afrancesado Spanish in the foreground.

The crescent-shaped ridge is clearly visible

A combined Anglo-Spanish force, under the command of Sir Thomas Graham, had been left as a rearguard in Northern Portugal, to protect Wellington’s main force (engaged in relieving Almeida from the risk of a siege) from Marmont’s army.

Graham had the full support of a portion of the Spanish 3^rd Army, under the command of the Conde de Espana, and he selected a strong defensive position not far from Vila Real, on a crescent shaped ridge overlooking a flat river valley in which lies the Castelo de Balsa, the stately home of the Conde de Vilaverde. The Spanish troops available were in good order and condition, but the troops of his own British First Division were somewhat reduced by recent fighting – accordingly he merged the two battalions of Foot Guards into a single strong battalion, and split Major Gardiner’s depleted battery into two units of two guns each, which were placed in two earthworks constructed in the only two gullies which penetrated the main line of the ridge. The Avila Volunteer battery was placed on the hill between these two small redoubts – some concern was expressed over putting non-regular gunners in such a prominent position, but in fact they performed well – their shooting was not wonderful, but they remained solidly in position.

[CCN rules were used – 5 cards each, French move first, 7 Victory Banners required for victory – the French had available two bonus Banners – one if the British were evicted from the Castelo, and one if the French had any infantry over the crest of the ridge.]

Graham deployed his British troops on the left of his curved line, with the 2/24^th positioned in the Castelo and its grounds – their aim being to delay the French as much as possible in this area.

On the Allied right, the Spanish troops took station, with the volunteer infantry in a reserve position behind the front line. The two Castilla light infantry units were placed in woods at the foot of the ridge.

Marmont had a considerable superiority in cavalry and – since the terrain was not well suited for cavalry operations – Maupoint’s 5 cavalry regiments from the Armee du Nord were detached and kept in the rear. The afrancesado Spanish troops were concentrated on the right, opposite the British units, while Foy’s French division, consisting of some fairly weak veteran battalions but with plentiful cavalry support, took station on the left, opposite Espana’s Spanish troops. Marmont’s strategy was to demonstrate against the British troops with his own Spaniards, and to assault the less steady Spanish nationalist army with his French veterans.

The action started with much artillery activity [both Bombard cards were played very early, and at one point the Allies replied to a Bombard with a Counter Attack card, which replicated the preceding Bombard]. The French avoided the Allied centre, which was very strong, and featured much of the artillery. Foy’s attack was preceded by two horse batteries, which advanced in gallant style but failed to hit anything worthwhile for most of the afternoon.

The King’s Guard, under Nicolas Guye, came on splendidly on the French right, captured the Castelo quickly and efficiently, and chased some Spanish light troops out of the woods in front of the left end of the ridge.

Foy’s attack was faced by unexpectedly determined fire from the Spanish army, and gradually ran out of momentum and men – a situation which was not helped by the loss of one of his horse batteries and the (usual) pointless expenditure of the supporting light cavalry, for whom Montbrun spotted a couple of non-existent opportunities to turn the battle.

As Foy ground to a halt, on the other flank the King’s Guard were routed from the woods, and finally broken by the heavy musket fire of the 42^nd Foot and the KGL infantry. As the grenadiers of the Guard broke, Guye, who had performed well beyond expectation throughout the day, was struck down by a ball, and carried from the field. At this point the Victory Banners count was 7-5 in favour of the Allies, and Graham had won.

As the result was a Marginal Victory, and since the French had a large superiority of cavalry, both sides recovered a good portion of their battlefield missing and wounded, and the French retired without further loss.   

OOBs

French Force – Marechal d’Empire Auguste Louis Viesse de Marmont

1^st Divn, Armee de Portugal (Gen de Divn Maximilien Sebastien, Comte Foy)

Bde Chemineau – 6e Leger & 69e Ligne (4 bns)

Bde Desgraviers – 39e & 76e Ligne (5)

3/2e Art a Cheval (Capt. Guerrier)

6/4e Art a Pied (From reserve - Capt. Braty)

Heavy Cavalry (Gen de Divn Cavrois)

Brigade Boyer - 15e & 25e Dragons (4 Sqns)

5/5e Art a Cheval (Capt. Graillat)

Light Cavalry (Gen de Divn Montbrun)

                Brigade Curto – 3e Hussards & 22e Chasseurs (6)

                Brigade Col. Vial – 13e & 26e Chasseurs (6)

1^st Divn, Armee du Centre (Gen de Divn Nicolas Guye)

Brigade Merlin – King Joseph’s Guard (5 Bns)

Brigade Casapalacios – 1e (Castille) Leger, 2e (Toledo) Ligne, Royal-Etranger (4)

Art a Cheval, Garde Royale (Capt. Desert)

Total force engaged approx 15680 men with 26 guns. Loss approx 3950 men and 6 guns; Gen Guye of the King’s Guard received a serious, but non-life-threatening wound.

Anglo-Portuguese Force – Lt.Gen Sir Thomas Graham

First Divn (Maj.Gen Henry Campbell - acting)

H Campbell’s Bde – combined Foot Guards Bn

Blantyre’s Bde – 2/24^th, 1/42^nd, 2/58^th & 1/79^th Ft

Von Loew’s Bde – 1^st, 2^nd & 5^th Line Bns KGL

9^th Coy, 8^th Bn Royal Artillery (Maj. Gardiner)

Spanish Force – Genl. Carlos, Conde De Espana

               

De Espana’s Divn, Spanish 3^rd Army

                Godia’s Bde – 2. Princesa & Tir de Castilla

                Truxillo’s Bde – 1. Sevilla, 2. Jaen & Caz de Castilla

                Foot Battery (Capt Herrera)

Provincial Bde (Col. Julian Sanchez)

                Zamora & Avila Vol Bns

                Foot Battery (?)

                1. & 2. Lanceros de Castilla (6 Sqns)

Total force engaged, approx 13420 men with 14 guns. Loss approx 2320 men, and 5 of the Spanish guns were disabled by enemy fire.

Detail losses:

French – 2/69, 2/39 (-3 blocks each), 2/76, 3/2e Art a Cheval (-2 each), 5/53 Art a Cheval (-1), 3 Huss, 1/Gd Grenadiers (-3 each), 1/Gd Fusiliers (-4), 2/Gd Fusiliers (-2), 2^nd Spanish Line, Gd Horse Battery (-1 each)

Anglo-Portuguese – 2/24^th, 2^nd Line Bn KGL (-2 each)

Spanish – 2. Princesa (-1), 1. Sevilla (-2), Caz de Castilla (-1), Herrera’s Foot Battery (-2), 1. Lanceros de Castilla (-3), 2. Lanceros de Castilla (-1)

The Pictures (Nick wasn't present for this one, so the standard of photography has dipped a bit)

The 2/24th Foot at the Castelo

Spanish troops on the Allied right

Graham set up his units carefully, with the reserve line held back to

allow the front line room to manoeuvre (or run away)

Old School Bellona earthworks - how cool is that?

Put that man on a charge - one whiff of a Cavalry Charge command card

and Montbrun is off like a madman...

This is where it comes to grief - Montbrun's flashy attack, with

Leadership bonus, is stimied by a First Strike card played by the

Allies, and his hussars are in serious trouble...

Command Cards again - the 42nd Highlanders and a KGL battalion,

with bonus shooting dice because of a Leadership card and the presence

of Generals Loew and Blantyre, put paid to the King's Guard grenadiers

and Nicolas Guye, and that's 7 Banners - thank you and goodnight...

The high water mark - this is as far as Foy's attack got - he

was running out of men

The Position at 31st May 1812

A Footnote on CCN Command Cards

A couple of comments on recent posts have suggested that the Command Cards in Command & Colors, Battle Cry, Memoir 44 and kindred games are a weakness, and I’ve had a couple of emails to the same effect – i.e. it’s difficult to get any decent movement of your army when the cards limit you to moving in dribbles – two here, one there and so on. I am happy to accept that people have to get what they want out of their games, but I’m pretty certain that I disagree with this particular point.

This week I have fought two battles which were pretty large by most standards – a couple of divisions a side, and were certainly large for CCN. The cards kept the movement restricted to small groups of units, admittedly, but the turns rotate at an unprecedented speed, and the gamer has the advantage that he can focus on the army in detail – something like the old proverb about the wisdom of eating an elephant one mouthful at a time.

No swimming of the head, no need to go check your email while your opponent thinks about his move, and then ask him to explain what happened – the game goes tika taka, to borrow a current buzz phrase. It moves in small steps, but very quickly – you can see it develop.